Chapter Ten

Hate Crimes

Victimology: Legal, Psychological, and Social Perspectives, 3rd ed.Wallace and Roberson

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Cultural Awareness

Definitions

Cultural awareness can be defined as the understanding as individual has regarding different cultures

The term culture includes different races, religions, genders, ages, physical disabilities, and gay or lesbian issues

Victimology: Legal, Psychological, and Social Perspectives, 3rd ed.Wallace and Roberson

© 2011 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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Cultural Awareness Training

One study suggests using the following techniques Lectures Role-playing Simulations Work Groups or Presentations Critical Incidents or Case Studies Local Culture Video Profiles and Cross-Culture Films

Experiential Assignments Interactive Computer Video

Victimology: Legal, Psychological, and Social Perspectives, 3rd ed.Wallace and Roberson

© 2011 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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Hate Crimes

Introduction

Hate violence has a long history in the United States

Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990 is still relatively new which makes measuring the number of hate crimes difficult

Lack of training by law enforcement causes many officer to fail to recognize incidents of racial violence

Natural reluctance on the part of many victims to report such incidents to law enforcement agencies

Victimology: Legal, Psychological, and Social Perspectives, 3rd ed.Wallace and Roberson

© 2011 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

Reserved.5

Legal Aspects of Hate Crimes The First Amendment prohibits the federal government and the states from enacting any law that unduly regulates a person’s freedom of expression

However from the beginning, the Supreme Court has held that such freedom of expression is not unlimited

U.S. Supreme Court upheld Wisconsin v Mitchell, stating bias or hate crimes were valid for three main reasons

While the government cannot punish an individual’s abstract beliefs, it can punish a vast array of depraved motives for crime, including selecting a crime victim based on race, religion, color, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, or ancestry

Hate crimes do not punish thoughts, rather they address the greater individual and societal harms cause by bias-related offenses in that they are more likely to provoke retaliatory crimes, inflict distinct emotional harms on their victims, and incite community unrest

Hate crime penalty enhancement laws do not punish people because they express their views

Victimology: Legal, Psychological, and Social Perspectives, 3rd ed.Wallace and Roberson

© 2011 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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Identifying Bias Crimes In the Hate Crimes Statistics Act of 1990, bias crimes are those offenses that are motivated by hatred against a victim based on race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or national origin.

The Office for Victims of Crime has identified seven general categories that should be examined when evaluating criminal acts

Racial, Ethnic, Gender, and Cultural Differences Written or Oral Comments or Gestures Drawings, Markings, Symbols, and Graffiti Representations of Organized Hate Groups Previous Existence of Bias or Hate Crime Incidents

Victim-Witness Perception Lack of Other Motives

Victimology: Legal, Psychological, and Social Perspectives, 3rd ed.Wallace and Roberson

© 2011 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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Typology of Offenders

Levin and McDevitt have established three categories Thrill-seeking offenders Reactive offenders Mission-oriented offenders

Sapp and his associates classified hate groups into three basic categories Christian conservatism based on the identity movement

White racial supremacy Patriotism and survival